British astronaut Tim Peake films lightning strikes from space

An astronaut on board the International Space Station has shared majestic footage of a thunder storm seen from a unique point of view.

British astronaut Tim Peake recorded the video as the ISS flew from North Africa over Turkey towards Russia at a speed of more than 8km per second.

The timelapse video shows a series of lightning strikes hitting the earth and causing intense bright blue explosions.

"Amazing how much lightning can strike our planet in a short time," Peake tweeted overnight.

Peake is a former British Army Air Corps officer and is Britain's first European Space Agency astronaut.

Since he joined the crew on the ISS in December last year he has become something of a celebrity in the UK and has shared a number of videos on social media, including one where he shows how astronauts go to the toilet in zero grvaity.

The ISS travels at 28,968km/h and circles the Earth roughly once every 92 minutes.